Hoang sued IMDb and its parent company Amazon in 2011 claiming her privacy was invaded and career impacted by the release of her age. Responding to Hoang’s claim, attorneys for IMDb asserted it has the right to publish true and accurate information, and that Hoang attempted to lie about her age.

Writing the court, Hoang attorney Keith Scully contended IMDb violated its customer services agreement when it published Hoang’s true birthdate after she signed up for a “professional” membership to the service. IMDb contended Hoang invalidated the agreement she sought to have enforced when she violated its terms by lying on her profile.

Creating her profile page on IMDb, Hoang submitted an incorrect birthdate in violation of the website’s terms of service, IMDb attorney Harry Schneider Jr. told the court. IMDb staff reviewing Hoang’s submission found the inaccuracy and corrected it against her wishes.

Hoang used another person’s account in 2004 to adjust her IMDb profile and make herself appear seven years younger, said Schneider, an attorney with Perkins Coie. That fake age persisted on her profile for three years until Hoang asked that it be removed entirely.

“In September 2007, as the 36-year-old Hoang approached her phony ‘birthday’ when she no longer would be a woman in her ‘twenties,’ Hoang decided that she no longer wanted the false (birthdate) on her profile,” Schneider told the court.

In more than a dozen communications to IMDb, Hoang claimed an agent accidentally submitted the incorrect birthdate and demanded it be removed. IMDb told her it would correct the birthdate, not remove it, when she presented evidence of her correct date of birth.

Ultimately, an IMDb employee then found Hoang’s correct birthdate in an online search and adjusted the profile page to reflect it. Writing the court, Schneider asserted Hoang attempted to fake a U.S. passport and a Texas identification card to hide her age.

Through her attorney, Hoang denied those claims while contending they were not relevant to the lawsuit.

“This is a breach of contract case,” Scully said in court documents. “Even if Hoang violated the law, that does not excuse IMDb’s breach.”

Hoang claims the IMDb page cost her work as an actress, a contention IMDb said Hoang could not prove. Attorneys for IMDb also claimed Hoang has never made more than $9,000 annually from acting in the more than 10 years she has attempted to launch a career.

Even if she could show she lost work, though, IMDb wasn’t responsible for the actions taken by others who read the profile, Schnieder told the court.

“IMDb does not cast actresses,” Schnieder told the court. “IMDb does not pay actors or actresses in any manner, for any purpose.

“IMDb hosts a website that seeks to publish accurate information about players in the entertainment industry, and has a First Amendment right to publish such information—a right that IMDb honors by consistently investigating and verifying information when necessary.”

The jury returned its verdict after a two-day trial before U.S. District Chief Judge Marsha Pechman.